


Take Me To Church

by rachelarcher



Series: This Web We Weave [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombies, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:49:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6355912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelarcher/pseuds/rachelarcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick and Daryl are faced with the truth that HICCUPS will happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Me To Church

Rick found the house completely empty. They has been home from Disney, finished the summer and we're two weeks away from Thanksgiving. Normally finding the house empty on a school day would not have worried him, but right now… he was panicking. First the school notified him that Merle and Cricket had picked Carl up, second Maggie texted him to let him know the other kids were with her and Glenn until Monday, per Cricket, and third the two long Beretta knives we're gone from the cabinet. Fear rising he phoned Daryl at the garage. “Are Merle, Cricket or Carl with you?” rick could tell he sounded worried.  
“Merle and Cricket went home for lunch, she called a bit ago and said something came up and that she and Merle wouldn't be back in today… Rick is something wrong?”  
“Knives are gone. Carl checked outta school. House torn apart. Mail on floor. Kids staying at the Rhee house until Monday. Can you lock up and come home?”  
“Shit, I'll be right there.” With that Daryl hung up the phone. Rick began to pace. The Jeep was gone. He tried to call Merle but it went straight to voicemail, same with Cricket, and same with Carl. Rick was anxiously watching the front door.  
When Daryl came through the front door, Rick was literally on the floor in the middle of the kitchen, a envelope in his hands. And a look of pain on his face, contorted. “Letter from Washington DC, that's where Lori is from… lawyer office. What does this mean? The letter is outta it…”   
Daryl could tell that Rick had been crying. “You think it has to do with Judith?” his voice caught and crackled. “Taking Carl must mean they… planning ahead, he will be their alibi. Merle has been on about picking up some parts from Restin, Virginia…. Maybe that's where they are?”  
They both knew it was wishful thinking. The knives alerted them enough of what was really happening.  
()()()  
Carl was not entirely sure his going on a killing trip with cricket and Merle should make him this happy but it did. He was stretched out in the back of the Jeep wind pushing around him. His phone off and in the glove box, apparently it was a rule Rick had made.   
“Glad your coming.” Cricket hummed.  
“The fun we're about ta have baby.” Merle grinned.  
“What are we going to DC for?” Carl asked, Cricket dug a folded set of papers from her shit, passed it back to Carl. As he read his blood ran cold… Lori was trying to fight for custody of Judith, and him. Like she had been his mother.  
Never in Judith's almost four years of life had Lori given a shit about her. And to make matters worse Lori claimed the Grimes-Dixon household was unsafe and that both Rick and Merle were unfit parents.  
“Gonna have to deal with Child Services again, bitch. You OK with this?” Cricket asked, looking back at Carl, Merle driving along.   
Carl smiled, “Momma. You're always saying we gotta protect what's ours, right? Let's do this. Ill help any way I can, you and Papa won't let anything happen to me.”  
“Thats right son.” Merle laughed then, it sent shivers down Carl's spine.  
Tomorrow Carl would be twelve years old. Cricket promised to get him anything he wanted for his birthday. He had asked to go hunting. He wondered if she considered this hunting.  
Carl watched his sister and Merle look at each other, something bristling just below the surface. Lori had remarried but they we're unsure if their were kids from the union. Apparently neither killed kids, and that to Carl was a testament of them doing what God wanted.  
He didn't know how long they we're in the car, he drifted in and out of sleep, but found his momma shaking him awake in the middle of the night. How in the hell had Merle and her found Lori's address? Realization sunk in that they we're probably just waiting for the right time…  
()()()  
Daryl and Rick we're both sitting on the couch watching horror films, several beers on the table, and both anxious. “Carl said Gareth was number three?” Daryl finally asked.  
“Andrea, then Tobin, then Gareth.” Rick counted them off. “Merle killed overseas in Iraq but that was forgivable and the man who tried to hurt you. Cricket left two in Vegas, one in Reno, and one in Florida. She moved around so much, don't think anyone has picked up on her signature. Now that they kill together, well…” Rick's voice dropped off. “Can I sleep here tonight, head on your shoulder?”  
“Sure, Rick. They oughtta be back by tomorrow morning.” Daryl muttered allowed.  
Except they most certainly we're not back in the morning. Or the rest of the day. Rick had called into work under the pretense of being sick, and Daryl opted not to go to the garage.   
They once more passed their time watching horror flicks and thinking about how unspeakable this whole situation was.  
()()()  
Carl watched as Cricket sweet talked the door man, flirting the best she could, while Merle figures out which apartment was the Blake's. Moments later both had reached Carl once more, and we're talking in hushed tones.   
“We gonna wait until later tonight, then sneak up.” Cricket told Carl, “Let's pick up the machine parts we need and then head back.”  
They got lunch, paid for it with cash, he watched as Merle wore a baseball hat, pulled low over his face, constantly checking cameras. Carl was making a list in his head, of questions to ask Rick, what had he specifically taught the pair before him.   
They were parked once more near the complex, no one around the alley they had decided on. “Carl, you don't have to go in with us.” Cricket, the loving mother she was, was giving him a way out.  
“No. Dad and Daryl know what you two do, who you really are. I wanna know too.” He sounded so sure.  
“If we get up there, when, you need a break you just go inta tha next room, ya hear me. Don't gotta see or do nothin’ ya don't wanna.” Merle sighed. “It ain't a game, and it ain't pretty. Ya gonna do as we say an’ when we say if’n ya go in.”  
“If you go in… you're going to be an accessory t at least a double homicide.” Cricket breathed, hard, clearly trying to display the realness of the situation once more.  
“I can do it.” Carl lied, he wasn't sure he could, but he was going to make sure he wasn't the one who fukced this is.  
Getting in was much too easy in his opinion. They we're wearing jumpers like they wore at the garage. Told the doorman they we're hired handyman, he didn't even look over his newspaper long enough to register Carl was much too young to be a laborer.  
“12C…” Merle was almost sing songy with glee, as he led them through winding corridors. He knocked on the door and a man opened it. Cricket surged forward, striking him hard in his throat, he gasped for air then sank backwards.  
Merle and Carl slipped in shutting the door. For a moment Carl wondered if this was the right house or not, but sure enough pictures of Lori and the man now on the ground littered the living room. Along with some images of a little blonde girl, who looked about three.   
Philip was still gasping for air, when a familiar voice jarred all three from their thoughts. “Phil, you okay, love?”  
When she got no response she entered the living room, and stood frozen, her face contorted in recognition. Merle grinned a wicked grin that made Carl's blood run cold. Then Merle had her by the throat. “Try ta take my daughter.” He snarled, an anger Carl had never seen on the verge of being released.  
Cricket was straddling the man on the floor, his eyes wide at the hunting knife Carl recognized well, which was tracing his shirt buttons. “What happened to your daughter?”  
“Died, car wreck.” He frowned. “Who are you people?”  
“I am Cricket Grimes, and that is Merle Dixon.” she did not bother to introduce Carl. He wasn't really a part of this.  
Merle has a snicker on his lips as Lori started to plead, no use, Merle already had her pressed back on to the couch, his firm hands holding her in place.   
Carl felt sick when he saw Cricket had unbuttoned the man's shirt, and was started working the knife down his front. He realized somewhat shakily if he didn't stop the noises someone would come.   
He dug through the bag they had brought up and found duct tape. He wound it around Lori's mouth first, she was so loud, then around Blake's. He paled as he realized he was about to see two of his surrogate parents work.   
He was jarred from his thoughts when Merle called him over. “Bring the Mason jar, son.”  
Carl felt around in the bag, finding the jar in question and trotted towards Merle. He handed him the jar, a question on his lips, when Merle motioned for him to turn away.   
He wasn't sure if he was glad he had or not. Cricket was deepening the slices down Philips chest, her face contorted into a twisted smile, her lips blood red, from biting them.  
When he felt the Mason jar against his side, he looked down instinctively and shivered. Lori no longer had eyes.   
At some point Cricket had led him away from the onslaught to a bathroom, she sat him down, and knelt before him. He couldn't help but smile at how utterly maddeningly beautiful Cricket was. Blood splattered her face, hair, and jumper, a wicked grin pulled at her lips, and she rubbed his cheek gently. “It's okay, babe, not everyone is like me and Merle.” she kissed his forehead then exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind her with an audible click.   
The next time the door opened, both Merle and Cricket we're there. The house smelled of bleach and dawn, and the bodies were nowhere to be seen. Cricket took his hand in hers, and Merle looped an arm around him.  
The clock on the microwave said it was four in the morning, on Sunday, before Thanksgiving. They had spent exactly seven hours in the house, if he had guessed right.  
he also realized that both Cricket and Merle had changed clothes somewhere, she had a bruise on her cheek, and Merle had a alight busted lip. Carl couldn't remember where those came from, in the scuffle of moving the bodies maybe.  
Carl drifted to sleep in Crickets arms. The machine parts shifted to the front seat. Merle humming along to the mixed cd she had put into the cd player.  
()()()  
By Sunday morning church both Rick and Daryl hit their knees hard in prayer. Neither had heard anything at all in several days and their worst fears we're never far from thought. Maggie and Glenn were absent.   
They did their normal Sunday ritual and ate lunch at the pizza shop, before heading over to Moon’s to get dessert. Beth smiled at both of them. “Noah just talked to Merle, ought to be home in a couple hours. Said ta tell y'all to check yer phones.”  
both instantly ripped phones from pockets to see media messages. Merle had sent them both one for Carl and Cricket passed out asleep in the back seat of the Jeep. “Call Merle.” Daryl ordered.  
Rick called him immediately, relief when the line connected. It was Carl who had answered. “Hey dad. Were good. Better than good. Not too bad of a hiccup.”   
Rick and Daryl shared a look, hiccup translated to yes they had killed. “Are y'all home yet?”  
“Almost to the shop, dad. Meet us there?”  
Betg would be laughing for days, in their hurry they forgot to pay. She wanted her and Noah to love like that, to be so lost without the other.  
In retrospect as Beth thought about it… Rick and Daryl seemed to gravitate to each other much like Merle and Cricket, it seemed to her like the four of them couldn't move without each other.   
()()()  
Daryl and Rick probably looked a lot like teenage boys throwing open the garage doors and searching frantically.  
How normal Merle looked bent over the machine he was fixing, while Cricket was perched next to him, knives on her lap cleaning them up. Carl was next to Merle learning.   
Rick got to Merle first, yanking him back and holding him tight, tears brimming. Merle held Rick just as tight, planting kisses on his hair and face.  
Daryl knocked the knives from her hands and planted a firm kiss on her lips, making her smile at him when he pulled back. “So, I got sick, first time ever. Had to clean it up.” She started.  
Merle and Carl we're laughing. Rick and Daryl exchanged looks. “OK but why did you leave and who?” Rick said finally.  
“First, we gots ‘ah surprise.” Merle was digging in his jeans then he produced a small box just for Daryl. Daryl was worried but only for a moment he took the box and opened it. A smile breaking his face as he showed kt to Rick.  
“I’s gonna be a dad?” The question sounded conflicting.  
Cricket nodded, a broad and wicked smile graced her lips, for a moment Carls stomach knotted, then he smiled again.  
“Now, about the hiccup.” Cricket dug in her bag and produced the letter from the lawyer in DC in regards to Lori attempting to file for custody of Jude and Carl. Rick took the paper and read it over, his blood burning.  
“That bitch.” He snarled, then handed the paper to Daryl, Merle was kissing him before he made two steps, the Merle was on his knees a crazy smile om his face, ring in his hands. Rick looked just as crazy in the moment, nodding his head yes, before Merle caught him up in a kiss. A rough growley one that was more teeth than tongue.  
Daryl smiled at Cricket. “You kill to protect what's yours.” he muttered it against her flesh, and knew without a doubt this was his God, his church.  
Carl wondered who was actually sick, looking at his four parents, the murderers who knew they we're monsters, or the monsters who pretended to be normal to protect the sick…


End file.
